br>Lars - do you have a database (or can we start a one on the wiki of camera models with genlock?)

do you just use an 1/8 to BNC to hook them directly up to the LZX? br> br>

br>JP

br>What can you use genlock cameras with? br> br>

br>nickciontea

br>BNC to RCA is a cable you can buy and will work with the upcoming CVI module.

But for vector rescanning and use without CVI.. I took a long 1/8 ad infinitium and jointed it with a bnc cable..
try to make the joint in the middle of a long-ish cable, and reinforce the joint area to try and stop it from flexing and breaking. one of my first vector cables broke.. but i repaired it and now they are all very nice and secure.

the kinda- kinda not awesome thing about these is that they run on 120v AC IEC connections br> br>

br>nickciontea

br>yeah.. but 7 ac cables would be cumbersome as shit. imo. not to mention the location of the cameras br> br>

br>barto

br>
just found these bad boys too. doesnt come with power supply but they use 12 V DC or 24 V AC so that should be a quick trip to my 2nd hand electronics store br> br>

br>lizlarsen

br>

Quote:

lars - do you have a database (or can we start a one on the wiki of camera models with genlock?)

By all means, create one on the wiki, that's what it's for!
I plan to add more to the wiki soon personally, but I have been so busy this month. :(

Basically with genlock you want to see a picture confirming the two BNC inputs on the back of the camera! "Line lock" or "external sync" in the description can be misleading, because those do not mean the same as genlock.

Quote:

do you just use an 1/8 to BNC to hook them directly up to the LZX?

That's the way to do it for now. And you could feed the Color Encoder output to the Genlock input (or via a Video Distribution Amplifier if you need multiple outputs for more cameras).

Color/Triple Video Input is coming out in a few weeks, and with it you get three pairs of RCA inputs/Genlock outputs for when you want properly DC restored and terminated video inputs (much more ideal than just feeding directly in via an adapter cable.) br> br>

br>daverj

br>I hope nobody was getting serious about snagging that group of 7... because they're gone.

They'll be perfect for showing off my new modules.

I don't mind the AC power at all. In fact I prefer it. That way you stick the camera on a tripod and run 2 BNC cables and a power cable with an extension cord to the camera, and the camera can be as far away as you want without having to have a wall wart at the camera (and an extension cord anyways) or needing special lengths of double wire to run power.

One of the modules that I already have done (except the commercial metal faceplates) is the BlackBurst distribution Amp. Blackburst comes in the back from the genlock module and is amplified and then goes out the front to whatever external cameras, TBCs, or other devices that need it.

Thanks guys. This was perfect timing. And I promise I won't buy any other cameras out from under you for a while now. (probably need another half a dozen this summer)
br> br>

br>daverj

br>Genlock cameras do show up regularly on ebay. Cheap ones do tend to disappear fast.

You also have to check the manufacturer's specs on each one because sometimes the seller doesn't mention genlock when they have it and sometimes they say genlock but they aren't really (some use manufacturer's proprietary syncing systems, or only lock to vertical sync) br> br>

Watch out on high-end lab/medical cameras for a BNC 'trig in' - I thought this was just a cute way of saying sync in - but it's a different form of sync for using with stroboscopes. Though this could be amazing, it's not what I needed.

That one in particular does support genlock, but it's on the center of a tiny 12-pin connector. I hacked a VGA cable together so that I could power the camera, send it sync, and receive composite video or luma/chroma all through one VGA cable. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS UNLESS YOU ARE INSANE. I spent a day soldering this together!

that aside, wow. Those exwave HAD sensors are stunning in low light. br> br>

br>daverj

br>That whole series of cameras from Sony is pretty amazing. High quality images and tons of features. The strobe feature is for machine inspection in automated assembly lines where products are moving down a conveyor and a strobe flashes to capture an image of a product as it moves past the camera.

I have some experience with those 12 pin sync/video/power connectors. They are a pain in the ass. I built a video switching matrix for a customer a few years ago (32 in, 24 out, controlled by Max/MSP). I built a sync generator and sync distribution system for it so he could use 24 miniature cameras that used the Sony 12 pin connectors. The sync box I made had 24 of those 12 pin connectors, feeding them all sync, and then sending their video signals out to the switcher.

You can get the connectors through Digi-Key. They're made by Hirose.

The 12 pin camera cables are expensive too. If you can get one of those cameras with a cable and power supply you save a lot of grief.

BTW, try out the slow shutter modes on that camera. You can create some cool smeared images with that. br> br>

br>smrl

br>Yeah I did try the slow shutter mode, but it only outputs one frame!

I think I might be able to feed it into my TBC which has a "freeze" input and sync it with the trig. out.

Also I was shocked by the 1/100,000 shutter mode - pointing it at a halogen bulb it looked completely off but emitted an eerie dull silver glow. Very surreal. br> br>

br>rosso

br>I was trying out that camera with smrl. When we pointed it at the halogen bulb, it looked like the lenses on the bulb's built-in diffuser (It's a regular floodlight bulb) shifted color when we were changing the focus. It was very surreal. Does anyone who knows optics have any ideas why this color shift would happen? br> br>

br>daverj

br>If there are very fine lines on the diffuser then maybe they beat against the color grid filter on the CDD?. Different beat patterns might shift the colors since not all color stripes would be illuminated at once. br> br>

br>daverj

br>

smrl wrote:

Yeah I did try the slow shutter mode, but it only outputs one frame!

I think I might be able to feed it into my TBC which has a "freeze" input and sync it with the trig. out.

Also I was shocked by the 1/100,000 shutter mode - pointing it at a halogen bulb it looked completely off but emitted an eerie dull silver glow. Very surreal.

Interesting. Does that mean that if you set it to 8 seconds and wave the camera around, that you get a new image every 8 seconds that is an average of the previous 8 seconds? Or is it just a stop frame kind of thing where you get a single frame grab, and it's held for 8 seconds?

Or are you saying that once you go to that mode it never changes. Just stays frozen? If that's the case I wonder if tripping the trigger input would make it grab a new frame.

In the specs it says the trigger input is TTL. That means zero to 5 volts. And you must be careful to never go below zero or above 5v. In fact zero to 3.5v would work fine for TTL.

That means you can probably feed in a square wave oscillator from your modular if you are careful to limit the voltage range of the signal. Voltage controlled freeze frames would be cool. br> br>

br>smrl

br>Yeah, I had considered using an oscillator as well! It averages across frames, but then outputs a single frame, followed by black for the remainder of the exposure. So I need a way to store the frame in a framebuffer. I can use the WEN output which is on the DB9 connector on the back, (probably TTL level as well?) which might only trigger every new frame. The manual is ambiguous and doesn't go into much detail about these WEN signals. Lot of work just to get a freeze frame but voltage-control over the rate would definitely be something worth trying br> br>

br>daverj

br>For anybody interested, there's a 3-CCD genlockable camera on ebay, but no lens. Typically 3-CCD cameras have very sharp images, but need more light because of the beam splitter that sends the image to the three CCDs.

Seller has very little feedback, but 100% positive. So be cautious, but the current bids are quite cheap. br> br>

br>smrl

br>This one has RGB output as well - a feature some of you might want to keep your eye out for... br> br>

br>daverj

br>

smrl wrote:

Yeah, I had considered using an oscillator as well! It averages across frames, but then outputs a single frame, followed by black for the remainder of the exposure. So I need a way to store the frame in a framebuffer. I can use the WEN output which is on the DB9 connector on the back, (probably TTL level as well?) which might only trigger every new frame. The manual is ambiguous and doesn't go into much detail about these WEN signals. Lot of work just to get a freeze frame but voltage-control over the rate would definitely be something worth trying

Not familiar with the WEN signal, but it sounds like a good guess that it would be a TTL level or something at least compatible with that. You could look at it on a scope to be sure. br> br>

br>smrl

br>Good chance it will work, I think WEN stands for "write enable", as in, the frame is returning, grab it now.